Striking and 'broken' Worcestershire teacher quitting after 16 years
Kerry Stoton says funding is so bad she can't even afford books or glue for her students
A Worcestershire teacher says she’s been left broken by the state of the education system – and will be leaving after 16 years in the profession.
Kerry Stoton, who teaches in Kidderminster, also hit out at school funding, with her departmental budget less than £1 per pupil per year.
It comes as members of the National Education Union walk out for the eighth time since February as the row over pay continues.
It means schools across Herefordshire and Worcestershire could close fully, or partially shut, for a second time this week.
Ms Stoton said she could remember times where there would be admin staff, teaching assistants and where teachers wouldn’t have classes of 35 students.
“All of these things over time just build the pressure,” she said.
“I also think that during COVID that broke me a little bit.”
She added: “My departmental budget is 90p per pupil per year. I think that's absolutely shocking.
“I can't afford to buy exercise books, I can't afford to buy glue sticks, the absolute bare essentials that you need to teach.
“I think it's utterly shocking and disgusting, quite frankly.”
But, defending the strike action which has seen children and parents need to take unexpected time off, she said: “So many of us are parents and that's why we're here, because we want the best for the children in front of us.
“We want the best for our own children and they are not getting it. They are being failed by the government.”
The Education Secretary has warned strike action by teachers is "undermining" recovery efforts following the pandemic.
Gillian Keegan said she could not think of "a worse time" for children to be kept "willingly" out of school as a result of teacher walkouts.
Daniel Kebede, the incoming leader of the NEU, warned that the Government will face a general strike in education if it fails to end the pay dispute.
But speaking to town hall chiefs on Wednesday afternoon, Ms Keegan said she thought she did "pretty well" at securing money from the Treasury for a pay offer made to teachers in March.
The Government offered teachers a £1,000 one-off payment for the current school year (2022/23) and an average 4.5 per cent rise for staff next year after intensive talks with the education unions.
But all four education unions involved in the dispute rejected the offer, and the decision on teachers' pay in England for next year has been passed to the independent School Teachers' Review Body (STRB).
The government says school funding will be at its highest level in history next year and it had made a fair and reasonable pay offer.